The present invention relates to a novel monitoring apparatus, and more specifically to a novel apparatus for monitoring the passage of discrete articles such as seeds or the like. While certain features of this invention may be adapted to many different uses, the disclosure will be directed to a seed monitoring structure and circuit.
As is well known in the art, a farmer engaged in mechanized planting of various seeds utilizes a planting machine pulled behind a tractor. Such planting machines usually include a plurality of separate planting devices supplied with seeds from separate hoppers so that a plurality of rows of seeds may be planted at one time. With planting equipment heretofore in general use, it has usually been difficult, if not impossible, for the farmer to determine the rate at which seeds are being planted during the actual planting operation, and there have been some instances where one or more of the planting units have failed to plant any seed at all due to a breakdown or temporary malfunction of the equipment. This lack of planting seeds or temporary breakdown usually happens without the farmer knowing of it.
One type of temporary malfunction which usually causes inoperativeness is when dirt and dust inherent in the ambient atmosphere around planting equipment accumulates around the sensing components. This most often happens when the relative humidity is low and static electricity causes a charge to develop within the interior surface of seed monitoring equipment so that large quantities of dust buildup occur.